Headsail roller-furling boom

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a movable stay connected between a boom and the mast, capable of furling a sail, such as a headsail or jib. The furling and deployment movements should be proportional so the sail angle remains constant throughout use. By furling sails toward the mast and deck, the center of gravity for the sailboat is lowered. During a capsize or just harsh weather conditions, lower center of gravity helps in righting a ship or preventing it from capsizing in the first place. Other embodiments will allow for automatic detection of an anticipated capsize and an immediate automated furling of sails.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a nonprovisional application and does not claim priority to any application.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus capable of raising and lowering sails.

BACKGROUND AND BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Sailing is an activity many partake in for both leisure and sport. One concern universal among all sailors is safety. A sailor must be prepared for the possibility of the boat capsizing anytime the ship is in open water. A ship may capsize for a variety of reasons, but it typically occurs from strong winds and large waves hitting the hull and sails at the proper angle to push the boat past its tipping point. One way to increase the stability of a boat is to lower its center of gravity. With a lower center of gravity, the ship becomes less susceptible to capsizing in dangerous conditions and has the ability to return to an upright position much easier.

One way to lower a ship's center of gravity is to lower the sails. Lowering the sails not only limits the effect the wind can have on a ship but also shifts weight towards the hull resulting in a lower center of gravity. Ships that include a mainsail have been adapted to furl the mainsail toward the hull. However, even more benefit exists if the headsail or jib is allowed to furl toward the hull. Any ship containing a furling headsail would typically wrap around the stay supporting the sail, not furling toward the hull. While this would eliminate the effect winds have on the sail, this stay furling would do little to affect the center of gravity of the ship. Furthermore, if a sailboat does capsize, the blade-furled headsail becomes weighted by water and acts an anchor or inverse keel below the ship, preventing the ship from turning upright.

There exists a need for a device capable of lowering the center of gravity of a ship by bringing the headsail towards the hull. The present invention seeks to remedy this need.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention may be referred to as a headsail roller-furling boom, but this designation is in no way meant to limit the invention. The invention may be applied to other sails besides the headsail and may utilize various means of raising and lowering a sail beyond a roller-furling boom. Therefore, it is the intent of the applicant to only limit the invention as through the scope of the claims.

One object of the present invention is to allow the headsail to roll and furl downward toward the deck of the ship. To accomplish this, the sailboat may require a movable stay that will maintain substantially the same angle and tension as the headsail furls. This stay may be connected to a mast and the hull of the boat such that the angle created between the stay and the deck is substantially the same angle between the leading edge of the sail and the foot of the sail. This stay may be connected to a boom located on the hull. As the sail furls towards the hull, the sail may gradually and completely roll into the boom.

The present invention may be used to keep a boat's center of gravity at its lowest point, assisting in righting a ship when knocked-down in a storm or capsized. The weight of a furled sail near the hull provides a much lower center of gravity than a blade-furled sail. Furthermore, the invention may also be partially furled downward, providing for a lower center of gravity while still allowing for some wind to contact the sail. A partially furled sail kept towards the hull and near a mast will provide a larger measure of safety than a partially furled sail around a stay.

In addition to providing a lower center of gravity, the headsail roller-furling boom will eliminate the need to deploy an emergency storm triangle driving sail. Instead of requiring the sailor to go forward on a pitching deck in harsh conditions, the sail may instead be lowered to create a small triangle sail near the mast, effectively accomplishing the same function as a storm triangle sail. Another benefit is the ability to douse the jib or headsail quickly and shift sail pressure balance towards the deck and mast. Before this invention, this type of pressure balance shift could only occur with a boom-furling mainsail and only from the fore direction. With this invention, both fore and aft driving forces are exerted closer to the deck and mast.

The roller-furling boom may require a moveable stay to effectively raise and lower the sail. For a sail to perform properly, the stay the sail is attached to must remain rigid while the sail is deployed. It is important that the stay remain rigid and tension remains constant as the stay descends the mast and rolls into the boom. This may be accomplished by incrementally controlling the furl of the sail. Precise increments will allow the stay to maintain the same angle regardless of the amount the sail is deployed. For example, if a mast is 20 feet tall and the boom is 5 feet long, for every 4 feet the stay descends upon the mast, the stay should slide towards the mast inside or along the boom 1 foot. The same ratio should be maintained throughout any deployment or furling of the sail.

One embodiment will allow the sail to be incrementally raised and lowered using a ratchet and pawl gear system. This ratchet and pawl may be located at the mast and mechanically connected to the boom through use of a pulley system. Each notch of the ratchet may move the sail up or down a fixed distance. The pulley system may be configured to adjust the location of the stay at the boom to maintain the same stay angle, consequently changing the location of the tack along the boom proportional to the changing height of the leech along the mast. Although a single crank may be used to adjust both the height of the leech and foot of the sail, other embodiments may allow for separate controls of each, providing an alternative option for more experienced sailors to control the sail through feel and touch.

The foot of the sail, from tack to clew, may be mounted on a mandrel or turning spindle. The foot may be connected to the mandrel through the use of straps wrapped around the cylinder and fixed with connector pins. As the sail deploys or furls, the sail may unwrap or wrap around the mandrel or turning spindle within the boom. If the horizontal movements and vertical sail-mast movements are controlled with separate mechanisms, the sailor may have to ensure the movements are proportional to prevent the sail from bunching or jamming within the boom. A furling drum may be mounted at the aft end of the mandrel to capture a furling line as the sail is lowered or to release the stay as the sail is deployed.

In one embodiment, the stay may remain permanently fixed to the sail even as the sail completely furls. This would allow the stay closest to the deck to wrap around the outer edge of the sail within the boom. Other embodiments may provide a device for stay collection, such as a furling drum. For embodiments with some method of stay collection, the sail may connect to the stay as the sail deploys. This connection may occur through the use of hanks, clamps, shackles, rings, or any other similar mechanism.

Because the stay connected to the jib or headsail may move up and down the mast, the sailboat may employ the use of an additional stay—an immobile forestay. This forestay may be needed to properly secure the mast. A sailboat using this invention may have three or more stays, a mainstay, forestay, and sailstay. This forestay may utilize a furling blade or standard hank-on driver sail, while the sailboat as a whole still obtains the benefit of a furled sail from this invention on the staysail.

The boom may be swivel-mounted to the deck allowing the sail to tack both port and starboard. The boom may utilize manual tacking or self-tacking through use of a self-tacking traveler. The boom may support a staysail or standard working jib of 100% or less (all parts of the sail and boom remaining forward of the mast). The jib may also be used as the sole headsail management system of the boat where sail systems of 100% or less are frequently employed.

Some embodiments of the invention may utilize automatic furling of the sail for even more safety. The sailboat may have a sensor installed capable of determining when the sailboat goes beyond 90 degrees of pitch (bow down or transom down) or roll (mast in water). The sensor may be electrically communicating with an electric or powered winch. Once the sensor determines the ship is beyond the threshold limit, the sails may automatically retract and furl back into the boom, moving the sail canvas toward the hull and mast. The automatic furling will allow the ship to have some corrective measures in place regardless of the location of the sailor. Furthermore, the furling can occur when the sailor is unable to manually begin the furling process either because the sailor is not located at the proper winch or because an unexpected wind or wave caught the sailor off-guard. Although the 90-degree threshold may be used as a last resort, the sensor may also be set for a lower angle to prevent capsizing. For example, the threshold angle may be set to 70 or 80 degrees to automatically furl before the sailboat has been knocked down. Furthermore, this lower angle may be used as a good teaching mechanism for aspiring sailors. The threshold angle may be set to 50 or 60 degrees while a beginner is learning to further prevent any capsizing.

Various embodiments will allow for alternative forces to drive sail positioning. For example, the sail and boom system may be connected such that the only driving force is an upward pulling force from the head of the sail. The rest of the movements, either horizontally along the boom or downward during furling may be effectuated by springs, gears, pulleys, gravity, or any other similar method. This may be accomplished by having a system at rest, sail completely furled and no components moving, exert horizontal forces along the boom towards the mast and vertical forces down the mast toward the deck. Although the entire movement system may allow for a single force to control all movements, other embodiments may control all of the separate movements from separate forces. For example, vertical mast movements may require a separate force than horizontal boom movements, each of which may be effectuated by the sailor manually.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a representation of the invention-furling process.

FIG. 3 depicts a zoomed in image of a partially furled sail with boom connections.

FIG. 4 depicts an example boom collar.

FIG. 5 depicts an example mast collar.

FIG. 6A depicts a spring compressing as a sail is deployed.

FIG. 6B depicts a spring expanding as a sail is furled.

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary gear mechanism for guiding the stay and sail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing. These figures are merely provided to assist in the understanding of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention in any way. One skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and changes may be made to any of these example embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a sailboat is depicted with the invention installed thereon. The sailboat may have two sails, a mainsail 110 and a jib 112. The ship may have a forestay 114 to support the mast 116. The jib 112 is connected to a stay 118 that is capable of moving up and down the mast 116. As the stay 118 moves up and down the mast 116, the stay 118 will also move proportionally within the jib-boom 120 to maintain the same sail angle 122 between the luff 124 and the boom 120. The boom 120 may be connected to the deck at a point near the bow 126 of the ship and extend towards the mast 118. A collar 128 may be located on the boom 120 to facilitate the horizontal movement of the sail as the sail furls or deploys. In this embodiment, the entire jib 112 is located on the bow 126 side of the mast 116, demonstrating this sail system as less than 100%. Although a sail system of less than 100% is depicted, the invention also supports sail systems of greater than 100%.

Referring to figure two, three images of a sailboat are depicted to demonstrate the furling of the sail. As the jib 210 begins to furl into the boom, the contact point between the stay and the mast may move down the mast from 210 to 212 to 214. As the mast point 210, 212, 214 moves down the mast, the contact point between the stay and the boom located at the collar 216 will begin to proportionally move along the boom from 216 to 218 to 220. The stay movements at both the mast point 210, 212, 214 and contact point 216, 218, 220 will remain consistent and proportional to one another such that the sail angle 222 remains constant throughout furling.

Referring to FIG. 3, a jib 310 is partially deployed. The visible part of the luff is connected to a stay 312. The part of the luff furled within the boom may remain attached to the stay as it furls, or the connecting gadget, possibly a snap or hank, may disconnect from the stay as the boom 314 collects more and more of the stay and sail. For embodiments that disconnect within the boom, the connection may snap or hank back onto the stay as it deploys. The stay 312 may be connected 316 to the mast 318 in a similar or same fashion as a mainsail would be. In this embodiment, the connection is depicted as a forward slotted mast capable of moving the stay up or down incrementally. However, typical mainsails that use a boom only require a small stay connected at the head of the sail, not a stay running the entire length of the luff.

The boom 314 may have a drum 320 located at the aft end of the boom 314 near the mast 318. This drum 320 may be connected to a series of pulleys 322 to help facilitate the furling and deployment of the sail 310. The drum 320 and pulleys 322 may also be in connection with gears that will be configured to adjust the stay movements proportionally to keep the same stay angle throughout. The pulley system 322 may run either underneath or within the boom 314. The pulley system 322 may also run underneath the deck 324 to complete the connection with the stay for vertical stay movements along the mast 318. By running the pulley system 322 below the deck 324 and up through 326 the mast 318, excess exterior ropes will not pose a tripping hazard to the sailor. Any drum 320, gear, or pulley system 322 may utilize a series of mechanical locks or pins to prevent undesired furling or deployment.

The boom 314 may also have a collar 328 located at the contact point between the boom 314 and the stay 312. This collar 328 may connect with the pulley system 322 and slide along the boom 314 as the sail 310 furls or deploys. The collar 328 may also act as a rigid point of contact for the stay 312 to ensure proper tension is retained in the stay 312 throughout the furling or deployment process. Referring to FIG. 4, the collar will have a gap 410 for the boom and may contain ball bearings 412 within that gap to reduce friction as the collar slides back and forth on the boom. The collar may also have a loop below the boom 414 to feed cables through or to connect to cables to the collar. The collar will provide a rigid point or line 416 of contact for the stay. By directing the stay forces to the collar, any gears, pulleys, or cables within the collar or boom are protected from the high-tension stress. Furthermore, this collar contact will ensure proper tension is maintained throughout the stay. This contact point 416 may also contain a gripping tongue to align the center of the stay and consistently feed the stay in and out of the boom.

Instead of using a forward slotted mast, a collar 510 may also be used to facilitate the raising and lowering of a sail. This collar 510 may ride up and down the mast 512 with the contact point being ball bearings 514 to reduce friction. The stay may be connected to the collar 516 instead of a slot within the mast. The collar 510 may then be attached to halyards 518 for raising and lowering. The collar 510 may only wrap around the mast 512 about 75% 520 to leave room for the mainsail connected to the mast on the stern side.

Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, a boom 610 may contain a spring 612 near the inner circumference surface of the boom 610. The spring may compress 612 as the sail is deployed. The spring may also expand 614 as the sail is furled. The length of the spring in its natural state, with no extra forces exerted upon it, may be the entire length of the boom 610. Without any locking mechanism or external halyard forces, the sail will return to its natural completely furled state. This may be useful in case of emergency to allow the sail to come to rest as completely furled, should the sailor not have enough time to incrementally furl the sail. Furthermore, the assisted pull or push from a spring aids in a sailors single-handed sail management.

Referring to FIG. 7, an exemplary gear mechanism is depicted to demonstrate the sail and stay connection. The stay 710 may remain fixed to the deck 712. The stay 710 may pass through the boom 714 and connect with a gear mechanism 716 and the collar 718. The gear mechanism 716 may be a locking spur gear located within the collar 718. The sail 720 may have permanent slots on the leading edge for the gear 716 to engage. The collar 718 may capture and pinch the leading edge of the sail to prevent movement as the gear 716 engages the slots. As the slots are properly aligned by the gear 716, the connecting device between the luff and the stay may be actuated. This gear 716 and collar 718 system may act as a “zipper” function to hold the sail 720 and stay 710 in place as the two are connected.

Any embodiment of the present invention may include any of the optional or exemplary features of the other embodiments of the present invention. The exemplary embodiments herein disclosed are not intended to be exhaustive or to unnecessarily limit the scope of the invention. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the present invention so that others skilled in the art may practice the invention. Having shown and described exemplary embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will realize that many variations and modifications may be made to the described invention. Many of those variations and modifications will provide the same result and fall within the spirit of the claimed invention. It is the intention, therefore, to limit the invention only as indicated by the scope of the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A sailboat comprising: a mast; a boom; a stay connected to said mast at a mast point; said stay in contact with said boom at a contact point; a sail; said sail connected to said stay; said stay adapted to move the mast point vertically up and down the mast; and said stay adapted to move the contact point horizontally along the boom.
 2. The sailboat of claim 1 further comprising: a sail angle formed between said stay and said boom; and the stay adapted to maintain substantially the same sail angle as the sail is furled or deployed.
 3. The sailboat of claim 1 further comprising: a gear and pulley system to change the mast point height and to change the contact point along the boom.
 4. The sailboat of claim 3 further comprising: a sail angle formed between said stay and said boom; and the gear and pulley system adapted to proportionally adjust the mast point height and contact point boom location to maintain substantially the same sail angle throughout sail furling or sail deployment.
 5. The sailboat of claim 1 further comprising: a stay collection device; said stay having an end at the mast point and an opposite end, said opposite end connected to said stay collection device; said stay collection device adapted to collect an excess stay length as the sail furls; and said stay collection device adapted to release collected stay length as the sail deploys.
 6. The sailboat of claim 1 further comprising: a sensor adapted to anticipate capsizing by measuring a tipping angle; an electronic winch mechanically connected to a gear and pulley system; said electronic winch in electrical communication with said sensor; and said electronic winch adapted to automatically furl the sail using the gear and pulley system upon receiving a signal from said sensor when the tipping angle exceeds a predetermined threshold angle.
 7. A sailboat with a bow and a stern comprising: a mast; a boom; said boom comprising: a collar; and a mandrel; a movable stay; a sail; and said sail connected to said movable stay.
 8. The sailboat of claim 7 further comprising: a rotating mechanism in connection with the mandrel to furl and deploy said sail; said sail having a foot; the foot of the sail attached to said mandrel; and said sail adapted to wrap and unwrap around said mandrel as the sail furls or deploys.
 9. The sailboat of claim 7 further comprising: a gear contained within the collar; said sail having a luff; said luff connected to said movable stay; said luff having notches to engage said gear; said gear adapted to rotate and disengage the connection between said luff and said movable stay as the sail furls; and sail gear adapted to rotate and engage the connection between said luff and said movable stay as the sail deploys.
 10. The sailboat of claim 7 further comprising: a mast collar; said mast collar connected to said movable stay; said mast collar connected to a halyard; and said halyard adapted to incrementally raise and lower said mast collar.
 11. The sailboat of claim 7 further comprising: said mast having forward located slots; a sail angle between said movable stay and said boom; a deck; one end of said movable stay is connected to said deck at a fixed point; a second end of said movable stay is connected to said forward located slots; said forward located slots adapted to incrementally move up and down the mast; and said collar adapted to incrementally and proportionally relocate the movable stay along the boom to maintain substantially the same sail angle as the forward located slots are moved up or down.
 12. The sailboat of claim 11 further comprising: a pulley and halyard system connected to said collar and said forward located slots; and said pulley and halyard system running below the deck.
 13. The sailboat of claim 7 further comprising: a drum connected to an end of the boom; a halyard in contact with at least one pully; said halyard connected between said drum and said collar; said halyard adapted to move the collar away from the mast resulting in a deploying sail by pulling the halyard toward the mast; and said drum adapted to hold and lock any excess halyard.
 14. A method of sailing a sailboat having a mast, a boom, and a sail comprising: connecting a stay to said mast at a mast point; contacting said stay with said boom at a contact point; connecting said sail to said stay; moving the mast point vertically upward to increase sail surface area; and moving the mast point vertically downward to decrease sail surface area and lower sailboat center of gravity.
 15. The method of claim 14 further comprising: defining a sail angle between said stay and said boom; and moving the mast point and the contact point simultaneously such that the sail angle remains substantially constant as the sail is furled or deployed.
 16. The method of claim 14 further comprising: connecting a gear and pulley system to said mast point and said contact point; and moving the mast point and contact point by actuating the gear and pulley system.
 17. The method of claim 14 further comprising: connecting a rotating mechanism to a mandrel located within said boom; connecting a foot of said sail to said mandrel; and furling or deploying the sail by actuating the rotating mechanism.
 18. The method of claim 14 further comprising: connecting said stay to forward located slots within said mast; and incrementally moving said forward located slots to furl or deploy said sail.
 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising: attaching a collar to said boom; contacting said stay with said collar; and moving said collar and said forward located slots such that tension in said stay remains substantially constant as the sail is furled or deployed.
 20. The method of claim 18 further comprising: connecting a halyard to said forward located slots; and moving said stay by actuating said halyard. 